Friday, December 15, 2023
“Make Your List and Check It Twice!”
Are you a List Maker? If so, the Holidays must be your favorite time of the year. The list of “to-do’s” is huge, but, since you’re so organized, you have no worries. Your shopping is probably already finished (or very close). You probably have reservations for New Year’s, your Spring break is already booked, and your Summer schedule is already finished.
Now, all you have to do is stay on top of the little surprises that always arrive in the Holidays: Broken light fixtures. Chipped paint. Car maintenance. Air Conditioner filters. Slow-running toilets. This is your heyday! You’re checking your list twice because the Holidays are the time that all of it gets done!
For the rest of us, we don’t bother checking our list twice. Why? Because we don’t have lists. We live in a different world where we allow squeaky wheels to keep squeaking until they fall off the axle. The Holidays are difficult for us. We’ll eventually get it all done, but our lack of organizational skills doesn’t allow us to plan or even commit.
I know, for you List Makers, you don’t get it. That’s okay, the rest of us accept your exceptional skills. Sure, we could probably improve our lives if we started making lists, but it’s not in our DNA. God made us differently and we probably have some skills that you don’t have. “What are they?” you might be thinking.
For one thing, we non-List Makers are exceptionally gifted in moments of chaos, emergency, and even tragedy. We’ve spent our entire lives fighting emergencies! If someone forgets to put the dog in the upstairs bedroom, we’ll calm your nerves when it jumps on the kitchen table and eats the Christmas cake. Or, when you accidentally put salt in the recipe instead of sugar, we’ll eat it all so your feelings don’t get hurt. After all, since you probably made the entire meal, one or two messed-up dishes are really no big deal to us. We’re thankful for your hard work and we’ll help clean the dishes.
The countdown has begun: Ten days remaining. On behalf of all the non-List Makers, I would like to thank the rest of you for checking your list twice and helping us get there on time. We wouldn’t make it to Christmas without your help, so please consider this little note our way of telling you that we love who you are and we are thankful that you love and care for the rest of us.
Give God some thanks for all those List Makers who are checking it twice. They’ll make sure we have the correct address and that we don’t forget anything. Then give some extra thanks to God, who never forgets any of us, either, no matter what comes!
“Remember these things, O Jacob. Take it seriously, Israel, that you’re my servant. I made you, shaped you: You’re my servant. O Israel, I’ll never forget you.” (Isaiah 44:21, The Message)